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FIRING LINE: THE MYSTERIOUS WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (TV)

Summary

One in this talk/interview series hosted by William F. Buckley, Jr. This episode opens as Buckley explains that this is the program of the series about which he is least qualified to express an opinion. He states that he will therefore act as referee between his two guests, author Charlton Ogburn and professor Maurice Charney. Buckley explains that Ogburn has just published the book "The Mysterious William Shakespeare," which posits that there never was a writer of plays named William Shakespeare. Charney, a traditionalist, calls Ogburn's argument a conspiracy theory, but Buckley is interested enough to let Ogburn hold the floor first. Ogburn talks at length about the theory that the plays credited to William Shakespeare were actually authored by Edward de Vere, the seventeenth Earl of Oxford. Since it was considered "vulgar" for a nobleman to engage in artistic pursuits such as writing, he adopted a pseudonym. It is said that he took the name "Shakespeare" from a series of images in his family's coat of arms. Coincidentally, a man named William Shakspere was living in Stratford-on-Avon. According to most records, though, according to Ogburn, Shakspere was barely literate and would have spoken with a very powerful dialect and dependence on the colloquial. Charney disputes each and every piece of information that Ogburn presents, asserting that for each source that Ogburn can cite to back up his claims, he can cite ten that prove the opposite. Charney goes so far as to call Ogburn "paranoid ... crazy" and a "delusional conspiracy theorist." Ogburn dismisses Charney's taunts and continues the discussion by talking about his belief that no one in England at that time could possibly have gotten away with the things that "Shakespeare" said in his work unless he was close to the throne.

(Network affiliation varies; this program was also syndicated from 1966 to 1971 and from 1975 to 1977.)

Cataloging of this program was made possible by Mr. and Mrs. Theodore R. Stanley.

Details

  • NETWORK: PBS
  • DATE: November 30, 1983
  • RUNNING TIME: 0:58:15
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: T:64210
  • GENRE: Talk/Interviews
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 - Authorship - Oxford theory
  • SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1971-1999
  • COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

  • Warren Steibel … Producer, Director
  • Paul Sweeney … Associate Producer
  • Dorothy McCartney … Researcher
  • William F. Buckley, Jr. … Host
  • Maurice Charney … Guest
  • Charlton Ogburn … Guest
  • de Vere, Edward
  • William Shakespeare